This edition presents a comprehensive view of the oldest gloss
tradition on books I-II of Martianus Capella’s De nuptiis
Philologiae et Mercurii, a key text for Carolingian scholars.
It furnishes descriptions of all extant manuscripts transmitting
these glosses and outlines their stemmatic relationship. The
relevant centres of glossing activity are indicated. The glosses
are accompanied by an apparatus of variants both to text and gloss
as well as by a source apparatus and traditio textus to
the glosses. The edition of glosses is organized by lemma and in
categories according to the nature of the content. Additions of
second and third hands are noted. The comprehensiveness made
possible by thorough examination of all extant manuscripts brings
into focus the layering of annotations over time, the close
cooperation between scribes, the presence of a ‘core’
corpus of annotations and the range and variety of material across
the tradition. More generally, the glosses provide insight into how
Martianus was read and understood in the ninth and tenth centuries.
Martianus’ rich blend of astral religion, classical mythology
and pagan tradition had an enormous impact on Carolingian
commentators. The earliest tradition of glossing on De
nuptiis thus supplements our knowledge of how pagan culture
was received in the early medieval West, raising important
questions about the nature of this reception.

Sinéad O’Sullivan is a lecturer in medieval
history at Queen’s University, Belfast. Her research
interests are in early medieval European intellectual history, with
a specific focus on glossing in the early Middle Ages.

"By uncovering these glosses from between the lines and in the margins of manuscripts and presenting them in a meticulous and eminently useful edition, O'Sullivan has opened exciting, new perspectives on Carolingian scholarship and intellectual curiosity." (John J. Contreni, in: The Medieval Review, December 2014, [14.12.02])